Buffing wheel



United States Patent BUFFING WHEEL Earl Carlton, Toledo, Ohio Application September 30, 1955, Serial No. 537,843 2 Claims. (Cl. 51-193) This invention relates to buffing wheels and to the method of producing the same.

An object of this invention is to provide aso-called finger type bufling wheel wherein the overall radial operating thickness remains constant throughout the useful life of the buffing wheel.

Another object of this invention is to provide a bufiing wheel with a constant thickness hub section, avoiding overlapping of the elements of the wheel.

And another object of this invention is to provide a cloth bufiing wheel free of hard spots and which will wear evenly without developing hard spots. 1

Other objects and advantages of this invention relating to the arrangement, operation and functions of the related elements of the structure, to various details of construction, to combination of parts and to economies of manufacture, will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following description and appended claims, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a section of a bufi'lng wheel unit embodying the invention herein;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side view of the buffing wheel unit of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a length of folded cloth from which th: buffing elements may be cut;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a buffing wheel element;

Fig. 5 is an end view of a bufiing wheel element; and

Fig. 6 is a plan view of a modified form of a bufling wheel element.

The bufling elements herein are known as the finger type and are formed from cloth yardage of the types usually employed in the manufacture of cloth buffing wheels. Yardage is cut on the bias (see Figs. 3, 4 and 6) to predetermined dimensions and a strip 10 is folded inwardly along its opposite longitudinal edges 12 and refolded along the center 14 to provide a laminated strip 16 (see Fig. 5). The strip is then stitched by one or more lines of stitching 18 in accordance with the desired hardness of bufiing wheel to be fabricated.

From the strip 16, which may be wholly cloth or which may be reinforced, as for example by sheathed sisal ropes 20 or other materials, elements 22 are cut. In the invention herein, each element, as cut, is bounded by a pair of opposing edges 24, 26, with one major end 28 therebetween. The opposite or minor edge 30 connects the edge 24 to a bias edge 32 angularly extending from the edge 30 to edge 26.

There is thus formed a finger element 34 of straight side polygonal and generally elongated rectangular shape.

A plurality of the elements are then assembled by stitching 36 with the edges 32 abutting the edges 24 in an extended series (see Fig. 1). The series is then stretched about a suitable hub 38 and assembly thereto by wire stitching 40.

Due to the tapered ends of the elements 34, a continuous thickness hub portion 42 is formed about the hub 38. There is no overlapping of adjacent elements. The fingers extend radially outwardly from the hub and each unit can include a plurality of layers staggered as to abutting elements. Thus a buffing wheel unit is formed with a continuous oufling thickness from the hub to the outer periphery of the layers of fingers. As the buffing wheel wears down in use, this thickness will be maintained for the life of the buff without the wheel changing in hardness as the wear approaches the hub. The finished bufiing wheel can contain any number of units according to the width of buffing wheel desired. The continuous layer thickness of the buff of this invention even at its hub, eliminates streaks on the articles being buffed, which could be caused by spaces between the more compressed overlapping hub end portions of the fingers in adjacent layers on other type bulls.

As a modification (Fig. 6), the minor hub end of the element 34 may have both edges 24, 26 cut to form a tapered portion 44 which will also assemble into a flat unit by stitching 36.

the present invention is intended to'disclose an embodiment thereof to those skilled in the art, but that the invention is not to be construed as limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of being practiced and carried out in various ways without departing from the spirit of the invention. The language used in the specification relating to the operation and function of the elements of the invention is employed for purposes of description and not of limitation, and it is not intended to limit the scope of the following claims beyond the requirements of the prior art.

What is claimed and desired to secure by United States Letters Patent:

1. In a buffing wheel having a hub member, a plurality of fingers radially extending from said hub member, and means for securing the inner ends of said fingers to said hub member, the improvement in said fingers comprising: rectangular pieces of cloth cut on the bias and having at least one of their corners cut off at their inner ends adjacent said hub, said fingers being arranged around said hub so that the edges of said cut-0E corner of each finger abuts the edges of the next adjacent finger adjacent said hub, whereby overlapping of any portions of said substantially rectangular fingers is eliminated in any given disk layer.

2. A buffing wheel according to claim 1 including a plurality of layers of said fingers, said fingers in adjacent layers being staggered with respect to each other, whereby the outer ends of the fingers in one layer bridge the spaces between the outer ends of the fingers in the adjacent layer.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 537,687 Keighley Apr. 16, 1895 2,039,677 Brooks May 5, 1936 2,209,089 Peterson July 23, 1940 2,215,522 Hargy Sept. 24, 1940 2,522,092 Churchill Sept. 12, 1950 

